“I did not do it”: this is what Thierry Karsenti, a teaching authority, who is accused of sexual contact with a minor, hammered on Wednesday at the Longueuil courthouse.
The alleged victim, whose identity is protected by the court, alleges that Thierry Karsenti fondled her genitals a dozen times, in a residence in Brossard in 2015. At another time, the accused would have forced the door bathroom to observe the 11-year-old boy taking a shower. The touching allegedly took place over a period of just over a year.
” You heard [le plaignant] mention that you would have gone to his room about 10 times to do sexual touching, ”lawyer Clara Daviault asked her client.
“I didn’t do it,” replied the former professor of education at the University of Montreal. The internationally renowned researcher also held the Canada Research Chair in Information and Communication Technologies. He directed the Interuniversity Research Center on Training and the Teaching Profession.
“Can you comment on the event where [le plaignant] mentions that you unlocked the bathroom door and spent 2-3 minutes watching him while he was in the shower? “, added M.e Daviault.
“I didn’t,” replied the 54-year-old again.
In 2019, a former spouse of Thierry Karsenti contacted the mother of the alleged victim. “She told me things that worried me,” said the plaintiff’s mother on Tuesday during her testimony.
It was at this time that she questioned her son and that the latter confided in the abuse he allegedly suffered when he was a minor.
Thierry Karsenti was arrested in February 2021. He is no longer employed by the University of Montreal. The pleadings are to be held on Wednesday afternoon before Judge Ann-Mary Beauchemin. The latter will make its decision in the coming months.